Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Escrcega Valeria
Ituarte Bruno
Biweekly notes
Collocations and modal verbs
A collocation
combinations
them all the
unnatural and
Types of collocations:
There are several different types of collocation made from combinations
of verb, noun, adjective etc. Some of the most common types are:
adverb + adjective: completely satisfied
adjective + noun: excruciating pain
noun + noun: a surge of anger
noun + verb: lions roar
verb + noun: commit suicide
verb + expression with preposition: burst into tears
verb + adverb: wave frantically
Modal verbs
Probability:
First, they can be used when we want to say how sure we are that
something happened / is happening / will happen. We often call these
'modals of deduction' or 'speculation' or 'certainty' or 'probability'.
It's snowing, so it must be very cold outside.
I don't know where John is. He could have missed the train.
This bill can't be right. 200 for two cups of coffee!
Ability
We use 'can' and 'could' to talk about a skill or ability.
She can speak six languages.
My grandfather could play golf very well.
I can't drive.
Permission
We can use verbs such as 'can', 'could' and 'may' to ask for and give
permission. We also use modal verbs to say something is not allowed.
Habits
We can use 'will' and 'would' to talk about habits or things we usually do,
or did in the past.
When I lived in Italy, we would often eat in the restaurant next to my
flat.
John will always be late!
Past modals
The past modals 'could have + past participle', 'should have + past
participle' and 'would have + past participle' can be confusing.
Multiple intelligences
It has been claimed by some researchers that our intelligence or ability
to understand the world around us is complex. Some people are better
at understanding some things than others.
Learning
styles